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 Biodiversity is critically linked to human well-being and life, given that it underpins and is the foundation of ecosystems from which human societies derive essential products for living. |  Massive increases in human activity this past century have led to the degradation of large parts of continents via deforestation, agricultural land conversions |  The coastal zone is the long narrow interface between the land and the ocean; it is a naturally dynamic zone which is subject to increasing human use. |  The institutions, organization, and mechanisms by which humans currently govern all biological and physical systems of the planet. |
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 Large scale disasters, which exceed the current coping capacity of socio-ecological systems, are on the increase. |  The phrase “green economy” has come to refer to an economy which has reduced its negative impacts on nature – air, water, biodiversity and climate. |  With the spread of droughts, flooding and agricultural decline, one can easily understand why fears of reduced access to drinking water, cereal crops and the threat of infectious diseases affect our sense of well-being. |  Food security exists when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. |
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 As with most definitions of human security, the focus is on security for individuals and communities – a state that is achieved when and where individuals and communities |  Population growth affects global environmental change. Other things being equal, an increase in the world’s population will lead to, among others, more carbon emissions, more deforestation and less biodiversity |  Global sustainability is increasingly influenced by processes of industrialisation and urbanization in non-OECD countries, especially in Asia, where rapidly growing economies generate large new demands for resources |  Urbanization - both as a social phenomenon and a physical transformation of landscapes - is one of the most powerful, irreversible, and visible anthropogenic forces on Earth. |
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 The concepts of vulnerability, resilience and adaptation (VRA) are interrelated and have wide application to global change science. |